Chicken Noodle Soup
by CJfaninSTL
Summary: Lorelai is sick with a nasty case of the flu and Luke heads over to check on her, chicken soup in hand. Set sometime around season 2 or 3.
1. Chapter 1

Chicken Noodle Soup

"Hi, Luke," Rory Gilmore said, dressed in her Chilton uniform, backpack on her back as she entered the diner owned by Luke Danes. She stopped in for a cup of

"Hey." Luke said as he looked up from the notebook in his hand. "You flying solo today? Where's your mom?"

"Sick. Flu we think. It's got her pretty good. She can barely move. I would have stayed home to take care of her today if not for a big test."

"That bad, huh?" Luke said, a look of worry crossing his face.

"Yeah, she hasn't been able to keep anything down in two days. And of course she is being incredibly dramatic in a way that only Lorelai Gilmore can, but this time I can't blame here. A coffee and a donut to go, please. I'm going to go to school, take my test and come home after. I just can't stand to see her like this." Rory said as Luke lifted the lid on the donut holder so she could select one from the pile.

Luke poured the piping hot coffee into a "to go" cup and secured the lid. "Tell you what, Cesear can handle the diner for a bit. Would it make you feel better if I stopped in and checked on your mom?"

"Yes, actually…are you sure you don't mind?" Rory asked as she took the cup of coffee from Luke. "I mean, it's not a pretty sight!"

"I don't mind at all and then you don't have to worry about her being alone so you can concentrate on that test. It would only make your mom feel worse if you failed it because of her!"

"Thanks, Luke! I owe you. I'll give you my key because I don't think she can get out of bed to open the door for you. Just leave it on the kitchen table when you leave. I'll call later to check in. You're the best!" and with that, Rory handed him her house key and hurried to catch her bus to Hartford.


	2. Chapter 2

Thirty minutes later, Luke, carrying a freshly made container of chicken noodle soup, used the key that Rory had given him to let himself into the Gilmore home.

"Lorelai?" he called up the stairs, "It's Luke!"

"Luke?" came a muffled voice from upstairs.

"Yeah, can I come up? I brought soup."

"Yeah, come on up, but leave the soup in the kitchen. I can't even look at food right now. Just be warned, it's not a pretty sight up here." Lorelai responded. Luke put the chicken noodle soup in the refrigerator and headed up the steps.

"Rory told me that the flu has you pretty good so I promised her…" Luke stopped dead in his tracks when he entered Lorelai's bedroom. "Lorelai!" She was curled up in the fetal position on the floor, hugging a pillow to herself. "Why are you on the floor?"

"Well, the Gatorade Rory left for me didn't exactly agree with my stomach and I didn't make it out of bed in time, so I got up to change my clothes and the sheets and this is as far as I got. I told you it wasn't a pretty sight."

"Where are your pajamas?" Luke asked as he walked over to her dresser.

"Second drawer from the top." She responded from the floor. Luke pulled a large t-shirt from the drawer "not that one" Lorelai said when she saw it. The black one. That one is itchy." Luke grabbed the black one and handed it to Lorelai. Then he walked over to her bed and began to pull off the bedding that was covered in vomit.

"Luke, you don't have to do that. I'll do it now," Lorelai said as she attempted to sit up but was overcome by a wave of dizziness and laid back down, "I'll do it later." Luke finished pulling the bedding off and bundled it up.

"I will go toss this stuff in the wash, you change your shirt. I'll be back in a minute." He left the room and headed downstairs and tossed the bedding into the washing machine. A few minutes later, he returned but hesitated outside in the hall. "You decent?"

"Define decent," came the still muffled response.

"Lorelai…"

"I'm good. Come on in".

"Where do you keep your extra bedding?"

"Closet. Top shelf." Lorelai said as she pointed towards the closet. "But you really don't have to do this."

"It's no big deal." Luke said as he grabbed a set of sheets off the shelf.

"Not that one." Lorelai said.

"Why not?"

"I don't like them. I want the other set."

"Okay," Luke sighed as he put the set in his hands back and pulled down the requested set. He spent the next several minutes putting the clean sheets and pillowcases on Lorelai's bed. "All done" he said as he finished.


	3. Chapter 3

"Can you get up or do you need some help?" Luke asked as he kneeled down next to where Lorelai was laying on the floor.

"I just need a hand to steady myself," she answered as she sat up slowly. Luke gave her his hand and Lorelai made the first attempt to stand that she had made in several hours. She immediately collapsed against Luke. "Okay, so maybe I need more than just a hand."

"I'd say so. Here, I'll just…" and without another word, he put one hand under her knees and the other around her back and under her arms and lifted her up as she clutched his neck. He walked her over to her bed and gently laid her down on the nice clean sheets. Lorelai smiled softly as he tucked the blankets in around her.

"Better?" Luke asked.

"Much. Thank you, Luke." She said and he smiled at her. "Why are you doing here anyway? How did you know I was sick?"

"Rory. She was worried about you and didn't want to go to school to take her test so I promised her I would check in on you so that she could concentrate on her test."

"Well, I'm okay now. You really don't have to stay." Lorelai said.

"You want me to go?" Luke asked, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"No, I don't…I just figured you had better things to do than clean up after me. Actually, I'd like for you to stay. I get pretty bored without other adults to talk to and I don't have a TV in here so I can't even watch sappy Lifetime movies. Stay. Keep me company." She smiled.

"Okay. I will then. How about I bring the tv up here and we can watch sappy Lifetime movies together?"

"Perfect." Lorelai said as Luke smiled and headed downstairs to get the TV. He spent the rest of the morning discussing the character flaws of movies he never before dreamed of watching with his friend, bringing her popsicles and handing her the bucket then holding her hair back when the popsicles made her stomach queasy. Finally, he noticed she had stopped responding to his movie comments and looked over to find her sound asleep. He quietly nestled back into the chair in her room and grinned. He liked taking care of her and he liked that this fiercely independent woman let him. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even hear Rory come into the house until she was in the room.

"Luke…I'm surprised you're still here," Rory said when she saw him.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to see how this movie ended…it's over now so I guess I'll be heading back to the diner now. There's chicken noodle soup in the fridge if she feels up to it later. Let me know if she…or you…needs anything else." He said as he grabbed his jacket and headed towards the hall.

"Thank you for checking on her, Luke."

"You're welcome." And with that, Luke walked down the stairs and out of the house.


	4. Chapter 4

It took three more days for Lorelai to recover enough to venture out of the house, but once she did, the first stop she made was to Luke's diner.

"Hey, Caesar," she said as her eyes scanned the diner looking for her friend. "Where's Luke?"

"Upstairs. Flu. He's been down and out for the past day and a half now." Caesar replied. "But don't worry, Caesar has everything under control!"

"I bet…so he's pretty sick huh? I'll be back." An hour later Lorelai returned to the diner carrying a container of Sookie St. James' homemade chicken noodle soup. She walked towards the steps, then up them and to Luke's apartment door. She found it unlocked as she knocked while turning the doorknob.

"Oh Lukey, your nurse is here!" she teased as she found him under his covers.

"Please, no perky. Why are you here?" Luke moaned.

"Well you see, a few days ago, I was really sick just like you are now and I had this friend who took care of me and was amazing in the process so when I heard that you were sick, I figured I would take his cue and pass the buck. I'm off today so you could be stuck with me all day. Soup?" Lorelai smiled as Luke looked up at her from the bed.

"Sounds great," he said, returning her smile.


End file.
